Chapter 2: Cloud Che, Xiao Che

Yun Che's consciousness gradually awoke.

What's happening... Am I not dead yet? I clearly fell off the Peerless Cliff, how could I still be alive! And there's no pain anywhere on my body... not even any discomfort? What is going on?

Yun Che suddenly opened his eyes, quickly sat up, and was startled to find himself on a soft, large bed. Above the bed, crimson drapes hung down, creating a festive atmosphere.

"Ah! Little Che! You... you're awake!"

A surprised young girl's voice came from beside him, and then a girl's delicate face appeared in his sight.

She appeared to be only fifteen or sixteen, dressed in a vibrant green long dress. Her delicate skin was fair and beautiful, her rosy lips luscious, and her exquisite nose slightly upturned. Her beautiful eyes, shimmering with profound surprise, were like a pool of crystal-clear spring water, pure, transparent, and utterly captivating. Her entire face was gentle, soft, and radiant. To possess such grace at such a young age, it was clear she would become a peerless beauty when she grew older.

Staring at the girl so close to him, Yun Che was momentarily stunned. Three words escaped his lips unconsciously: "Little Aunt?"

The girl raised her fair wrist, and her jade-like hand pressed against Yun Che's forehead. Her expression relaxed further as she said with relief, "Your temperature is almost back to normal. That's wonderful, I was almost scared to death just now. Little Che, do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?"

Faced with the girl's gaze, brimming with deep concern, Yun Che numbly shook his head... His mind was completely adrift.

"You should rest for a bit. I'm going to tell your grandfather right away. Today is your big day, and when you suddenly fainted, your grandfather almost went mad with worry. He just personally went out to invite Master Situ."

In her haste, the girl didn't notice the strangeness in Yun Che's expression. She gently pressed his shoulders, encouraging him to lie back down, then quickly left.

The door closed, and Yun Che sat up on the bed again, clutching his head with both hands.

This was Floating Cloud City, the easternmost small city in the Azure Wind Empire, one of the Profound Sky Continent's seven nations. And he was Xiao Che, the only grandson of the Xiao Clan's Fifth Elder! He had just turned sixteen this year.

This was his current identity.

His memories immediately overlapped with those from his twenty-plus years on the Azure Cloud Continent, leaving him in a daze.

I am Xiao Che... So what about those memories from the Azure Cloud Continent?

Did I transmigrate into this body after dying on the Azure Cloud Continent?

No, that's not right! I am clearly Xiao Che! Everything in this room is incredibly familiar to me; all my memories from childhood to now are clear and distinct. Everything I remember, I experienced myself. These absolutely cannot be stolen memories from someone else!

Could everything on the Azure Cloud Continent have been just a dream? A dream that suddenly ended after I fell off the Peerless Cliff?

But my memories of the Azure Cloud Continent are also incredibly vivid... Those twenty-four years of grudges and affections, how could they be a dream!

What exactly is going on?

Yun Che... or rather, Xiao Che now, remained in a daze for a while before his eyes slowly calmed, and his thoughts gradually became clear.

It was still early morning, and the sky outside hadn't fully brightened. Today was the day of his wedding to Xia Qingyue. About half an hour ago, his little aunt had woken him up, had him change into a crimson wedding gown, and then he drank a bowl of porridge she had personally prepared. After that, he felt his entire body go limp... and then he remembered nothing.

He had only just woken up now.

Just then, a strange taste lingered on his lips. Xiao Che's lips twitched slightly, and his expression instantly changed.

This is... Heart-Slaying Powder!!

During his years on the Azure Cloud Continent, Yun Che, with the Sky Poison Pearl in his possession, had an intimate understanding of all poisons under heaven. It could be said there was no poison in the world he didn't know. No matter what the poison, he could instantly identify its name and composition with just a slight sniff. Moreover, possessing the Sky Poison Pearl made him immune to all poisons; no matter how potent, they could not harm him.

Heart-Slaying Powder was made from Spirit-Severing Grass and Purple-Striped Begonia. When dissolved in water, it was colorless and odorless. Once ingested, it could extinguish a person's life force within seconds, causing instant death, with no traces of poison visible on the body.

Xiao Che's eyes darkened, and he instantly understood.

So, he hadn't just fainted earlier; he had been poisoned with Heart-Slaying Powder in the porridge he drank, and then he died! After death, he had reincarnated and been born on the Azure Cloud Continent. And after falling off the Peerless Cliff on the Azure Cloud Continent... he had actually been reborn back into the very body he had just died in during his previous life!

Although such an event sounded like a complete fantasy, it was the only possibility Xiao Che could conceive of!

Wait... if that's the case, his current body shouldn't have any resistance to poison. Why, after just tasting the Heart-Slaying Powder on his lips, was he perfectly fine now?

A faint, unusual sensation came from the palm of his left hand. Xiao Che raised his left hand and was startled to discover a green, circular imprint on his palm.

The shape, color, and size of this imprint... it was identical to the Sky Poison Pearl!

Before falling off the Peerless Cliff, in his desperation, he had directly swallowed the Sky Poison Pearl, completely unaware of what consequences this might entail. And now, this imprint on his hand seemed to indicate that the Sky Poison Pearl had also transmigrated with him!

"Sky Poison Pearl..." Staring blankly at the imprint, which bore an uncanny resemblance to the Sky Poison Pearl, Xiao Che unconsciously murmured the words.

As his voice faded, the green imprint on his palm suddenly emitted a verdant glow. His vision inexplicably blurred, and a slight dizziness washed over his brain, making him instinctively close his eyes. When he opened them again, the world around him had transformed into a vast expanse of green.

This green world was utterly desolate and boundless, filled with the faint, unique aura of the Sky Poison Pearl. Xiao Che was stunned for a long moment before finally realizing that his consciousness had entered the internal world of the Sky Poison Pearl.

So, there was such a vast world inside the Sky Poison Pearl! Even more incredibly, by swallowing the Sky Poison Pearl without considering the consequences, he had somehow caused it to transmigrate with him, and it now seemed to have become a part of his body!

Since he could enter, he surely could also exit.

Xiao Che closed his eyes, and with a slight shift of his will, the surrounding green world rapidly dissipated. When he opened his eyes again, his vision was filled with the familiar room.

Looking at the light green imprint on his palm, Xiao Che slowly smiled... Although he didn't know why such an incredible thing had happened, he had not only been reborn after death but also possessed the memories of two lives. Perhaps the heavens themselves were displeased with the tragic fate of his two lives and had mercifully granted him another chance at a new beginning!

Yun Che had been hunted by countless peak powerhouses on the Azure Cloud Continent, and although he ultimately perished, he alone had stirred up immense turmoil across the land, what formidable prestige! However, his current body was ordinary... To put it bluntly, it was utterly useless.

On the Profound Sky Continent, profound energy was paramount. Although Xiao Che was born into the Xiao Clan, and was the grandson of the strongest Fifth Elder, Xiao Lie, he was already sixteen years old, yet his profound energy remained at the first level of the Elementary Profound Realm. He began cultivating profound energy at seven and a half years old, entered the first level of the Elementary Profound Realm at eight, and for the entire eight years since, his profound energy had not advanced a single bit. He endured endless mockery within the Xiao Clan. Later, Xiao Lie invited Situ Yun, Floating Cloud City's foremost physician, to examine him. The answer came like a bolt from the blue – he was born with damaged bloodlines, and the damage was so severe that it was almost impossible to repair. In this condition, Xiao Che would remain at the first level of the Elementary Profound Realm for his entire life; no matter how hard he tried, he would make no progress.

Even if he cultivated with all his might, he would remain at the first level of the Elementary Profound Realm for life. Such a person would undoubtedly be at the very bottom of society on the Profound Sky Continent, becoming a complete laughingstock in the Xiao Clan. If it weren't for his grandfather, Xiao Lie, being the strongest expert in the Xiao Clan and even all of Floating Cloud City, no one would spare him a second glance.

As one of Floating Cloud City's three great profound-cultivating families, the Xiao Clan boasted numerous powerful experts and a continuous stream of talented young prodigies. Within it, Xiao Che was, to put it mildly, completely expendable. Even if he died one day, very few people would truly care. Yet today, someone had gone to the lengths of poisoning him with Heart-Slaying Powder, a rare and untraceable potent poison. The reason, of course, was now perfectly clear to Xiao Che.

Because today was the day of his wedding to Xia Qingyue.

Xia Qingyue was the same age as him, also sixteen. However, at such a young age, her profound energy was said to have already reached the tenth level of the Elementary Profound Realm, on the verge of breaking through to the True Profound Realm. To reach such a level at sixteen, she was the Xia Clan's foremost genius in a hundred years, unrivaled among the younger generation in all of Floating Cloud City. There were even rumors that if her progress continued, she might become the first person in the Xia Clan's history to enter the Earth Profound Realm within a few decades... and perhaps even reach the Sky Profound Realm, a level no one in Floating Cloud City had dared to dream of for centuries!

Even more critically, not only was her talent astounding, but she was also a beauty of heavenly grace, widely recognized as Floating Cloud City's foremost beauty. Almost every young talent with some standing in Floating Cloud City harbored deep admiration and desire for her. If the Xia Clan were to hold a marriage recruitment, the line of hopeful suitors would likely stretch from Floating Cloud City's North Gate all the way to its South Gate.

Such a favored daughter of heaven, whose talent and beauty were considered the best in Floating Cloud City, was actually going to marry the most useless descendant of the Xiao Clan, a youth with absolutely no future. Countless people in Floating Cloud City stomped their feet and beat their chests in indignation... It was truly like a proud lotus blooming on a pile of cow dung that others wouldn't even bother to glance at!

Those who were infatuated with Xia Qingyue naturally felt a mix of jealousy and hatred towards Xiao Che, but even more so, indignation... To Xiao Che now, it was not at all surprising that someone would try to poison him.

"Indeed, a beauty is a harbinger of trouble," Xiao Che muttered to himself as he got out of bed. But thinking of Xia Qingyue's captivating beauty, he grinned. "Still, getting such a wife is quite a good start."